Change of fate
by bhut
Summary: AU - canon divergence. Lane Kim feels trapped in Star Hollow and ends-up joining S.H.I.E.L.D. Sadly, she also befriends Grant and Raina in the process of doing so.


**Change of fate**

 _Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to their respective owners._

Once upon a time, when the school was over, earlier than the usual because it was before a long weekend, Lane Kim was slowly walking home, intent on avoiding her mom for as long as she could, and not get in trouble over it.

It's not that Lane didn't love her mother, she really did, but on occasion… okay, most of the time, Mrs. Kim could be overwhelming with a) her concern that her daughter wasn't growing up properly Korean (in Star Hollow, one of the _least_ ethnically diverse cities in Connecticut, FYI), and b) her antiques, which she loved _almost_ (on a bad day) as much as she loved Lane – it just was that the antiques were inanimate, and could handle Mrs. Kim in large doses better than Lane could…

Of course, Lane could hang around her best friend, (usually speaking), namely Rory Gilmore – but, on occasion, Lane could not really handle Rory either. Rory was nice, polite, soft-spoken and friendly, but she could also be self-centered, egotistical and irresponsible; she tended to flee from her own problems, (especially with boys, **cough** ), and ignore those of others, (just as her mother, Lorelai Gilmore did, **cough** ). Normally, Lane had no problem with that, but today she did, or rather didn't want to deal with Rory either – she just wanted… she didn't know what she wanted precisely, but in general? She wanted something new and something else, something different from the usual routine that Star Hollow offered her, completely.

As Lane came to this realization and looked around, her re-started awareness introduced her to the next fact: she had gone off her usual, beaten, path. The trees around her were subtly different – aside from Star Hollow's usual maples, willows and yew trees, there also few strawberry trees growing here and there, and that meant only one thing: the Gilmores.

More precisely, the _oldest_ Gilmores, Mr. Rich and Mrs. Emily Gilmore. Again, Lane had nothing against them, not at all, they were lovely people, but given their differences in the social status, she would rather not get involved with them, especially while she was still kind of irritated with their granddaughter, Rory…

Curiously, close to the driveway into the Gilmores' mansion stood a car with out-of-state license plates and a young man, (but not a chauffeur) stood next to it, looking…not so much bored, as genuinely entranced and enjoying the view of autumn maples, all reds and yellows, contrasting with evergreen arbutus.

Lane herself enjoyed the local nature in autumn; the colors were one of the higher points of life in Star Hollow, (if your life included Mrs. Kim for a mother), and the stranger wasn't much older than her, and he was rather handsome, and not just new, and Lana never cared about the ethnic issue that much, so she decided to go ahead and flirt, (even if she was smart rather than pretty, unlike Paris, or even Rory, who was both).

"Hi!" she said brightly, as she walked up to the stranger, beaming brightly. "I'm Lane! And you?"

"Hi!" the young man was flustered and flushed, but did an admirable job of putting his emotions back under control. "I mean – hello. I am Ward, Grant Ward, _agent_ Grant Ward, I mean. Nice to meet you, Miss Lane. Are you a friend of Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore?"

"No, I am a friend of their granddaughter, Rory," it was Lane's turn to blush as she realized that she was popping up at a strange man, (with nicely chiseled facial features, BTW), in 3-D. (Also, it was nice that he didn't assume that she was a member of their servants instead – there'd been incidents in the past, one that didn't endear any Gilmores to the Kims, BTW). "I, uh, did you say _agent_ Grant Ward? An agent of what? IRS?"

"No, Lane's new interlocutor grew genuinely thoughtful. "I work in S.H.I.E.L.D. – that's Strategic Homeland Intervention and Logistics Division to you, miss," the young man glared. "Me and my S.O., John Garrett," (and Lane could hear the pride in Grant's voice when he said that name – apparently, that man meant a lot to him), "came to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore in regards to the financial backing of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Fury's orders, you know?"

"Really?" Lane was not _too_ impressed by Grant Ward's bragging, but hey, a new face is a new face, and besides, she _did_ want to talk to someone new (and handsome). "How this is going?"

"Not very well," a new voice spoke, startling Lane, (and to a lesser extent – Grant). "I really don't like those missions…kid. Who is your new friend?"

Lane turned around, feeling decisively flat-footed. The newcomer was old enough to be her father, (metaphorically speaking), and while Lane was generally a 'half-full-glass' person, there was something not exactly wrong, but off, Lane just didn't know what.

…Of course it might have been just the facial expression of 'agent John Garrett', if that was him. The older man looked down at Lane, (given the difference between their respective heights) with a clear suspicion and scepticism, period.

"This is Miss Lane Kim," Grant said brightly, (while somewhat subtly moving between the two of them). "She is very impressed with what S.H.I.E.L.D. does."

"Of course!" Lane said brightly, (even though she was not quite sure as to why she was agreeing with him). "Why don't you tell me what you do, sir, yourself?" (As her family taught her, little flattery never hurt anyone.)

Or not, because 'agent John Garrett' gave her a strange look. "S.H.I.E.L.D.," he said slowly, "is the best, the elite of the elite…" he trailed away, clearly struggling with something internal. "We are the shield of humanity against the strange, the unknown, and the bizarre. The supernatural, the occult, and everything in-between! Kid, you want to be one of us?"

"Yes," Lane replied, (in part because of self-preservation, admittedly). "I am!"

"Okay," John Garrett took a deep breath and visibly collected himself. "Kid, where's the nearest recruitment office in this state?"

"Hartford, sir," Grant said politely. "Shall we go there?"

"Yes," John Garrett said decisively. "Let's!"

/ / /

On her way to Hartford Lana was…confused. The spontaneity alone was overwhelming – she was not used to it, not even after hanging around Rory and her mother. (Lorelei could be, on occasion, spontaneity itself in a human form). The views were new and exotic, for Lane had never been anywhere beyond Star Hollow before, and that was simply sad.

On the other hand… There were her new 'friends'. Oh, they were not enemies, not yet, (and hopefully, not ever – Lane did not do enemies. Period), but… John Garrett was potentially crazy, certainly very mentally stable, and Grant… Grant was nice; in the same way that her father was…

Um. This realization chain-jumped another one for Lane. She loved her parents, she really did, but on occasion she wished that their family dynamic was different, that her father would stand up to her mother, but he never did, especially in public, and while _mentally_ she understood his reasons, _emotionally_ it was another story…

Speaking of Grant and John Garrett… So far, Lane's new adventure took a turn for the mundane, as the two agents took her in a recruiting office, rather similar to a military one, and got her to fill-in a form, a questionnaire rather similar to the surveys that they occasionally had to complete back in her school – and so she filled in, while Grant and his S.O. (what did _that_ mean?) had some sort of a private discussion of their own…

"…I think, kid, that we need to talk once more about attachment and weaknesses," John was telling his student, (what _was_ the right term?). "Now, New England in autumn is fun and all-"

"John." While the older man's voice was smooth and fluid changing intonations in a single sentence, (almost snake-like, actually), Grant's voice was not, but there was resolution in, a metaphorical nucleus of steel that Lane had never heard in her father's voice.

Hah. Then maybe she was wrong about her earlier assessment after all. Thank God, that she was not Rory – the youngest Gilmore girl always had problems in admitting this sort of thing.

"…What day is it today?" Grant finished his question, sounding both upset and resolute.

"I know what day it is today!" Garrett snapped, clearly unhappy with the younger man standing up to him, (not unlike how Mrs. Kim felt when Lana stood up to her, but due to gender differences it felt more intense).

"You do, John?" Grant did not back down, though it looked as if he rather would. "Then tell me – _please_."

"Today," John inflated, and Lane stiffened: the smoothness and the charm were gone, leaving behind something much darker and dangerous than Lane has ever seen in her mother. "Is-"

And he stopped. It was as if a switch was flipped, and instead of a very dangerous man stood a man…just an ordinary man, who was looking slightly like Luke, whenever Mr. Danvers realized that he messed things up with Lorelai Gilmore again.

"Oh," John Garrett spoke in a smaller voice. "Oops. I forgot. Guess I need to go and make things up, right? Before it is too late?" he finished, already sounding like his 'smoother' self.

"Yes, John," Grant nodded, as he smoothly sidled out of the older man's way. "Good luck?"

The older man gave Grant an enigmatic look and left.

/ / /

"…What was that all about?" Lane asked just few minutes later after Grant sat next to her, looked over the completed form, nodded, wrote down his own signature and gave it to the recruiting agent – again, in a very mundane manner, before turning his attention back to Lane.

"John has forgotten Rae-Rae's birthday, and now will try to do some control damage," Grant exhaled heavily. "I'm sorry that you did have to hear this." He looked at the clock on the wall, and got back onto his feet. "Way a second, miss Lane, I'll be back." And he left through another door, leaving Lane confused – especially about just who was 'Rae-Rae'? His girlfriend? Not that Lane cared, agent Grant Ward _was_ handsome, but not _that_ handsome, and she wasn't Rory Gilmore to enjoy drama, let alone participate in it, but-

"Hungry? Lunch?" Grant returned with a tray that had plates enough for both of them – spaghetti with meat, some sort of cheese and vegetable salad and juice. "That's today's lunch, sorry."

"Don't mind if I do!" Lane said brightly. It was nice being served after all. "So, whose birthday is today?" she added, somewhat reluctantly as the two of them dug in.

"Rae- Raina's. She is my sister. Stepsister, that is. I am adopted," Grant explained between bites of spaghetti. "By John. Sorry about his behavior. Ever since his mission in the Balkans, his behavior has been growing increasingly erratic – in a bad way. I don't know how to fix it and neither does Rae-Rae – and she's much smarter than me, she's going to be a proper scientist of S.H.I.E.L.D., not a field agent, you know?"

Grant's voice sounded properly proud when he talked about his stepsister – and Lane felt somewhat jealous. She always knew that being an only child was somewhat overrated, and now…

"Anyways," Grant continued, unaware of Lane's thoughts, "if you ever have any ideas about John, let me, or even Raina, know? Help is always welcome, especially if it comes from a friend."

Lane opened her mouth to reply – it is not that Rory or any of her other friends took her for granted, but still – when someone else spoke instead:

"Hello, bro-bro. Who is your friend?"

"Miss Lane, meet Raina. Raina, this is miss Lane. She has just submitted her application to S.H.I.E.L.D., here," Grant turned to face the newcomer, as did Lane. And stared. It was embarrassing, not to mention wrong, in a petty way, but she did.

"What's the matter?" Raina was more than sharp enough to catch Lane's mishap. "Never seen a _Canadian_ before?"

"No!" Lane said brightly. "Small-time American girl; until today I lived in my home town, so if you came there, people could've confused you with an alien from the moon or someone like that. It's that sort of town, you know?"

"Fascinating!" something did change in Raina's impression – it became less hostile and more…bossy? She promptly sat down next to Grant and Lane. "Bro-bro, can you get me lunch as well?"

Grant raised an eyebrow and gave Raina a look that somehow made him look more human than before. Raina did the same thing, actually. "I promise that I behave," she finally exhaled, with a huff.

Grant smiled – a small, happy smile of a brother who had been able to put his sister in her place – and left.

"Um," Lane spoke, somewhat unbalanced – she had no siblings of her own, so she did not quite know where to go from here, "so, what now?"

"I am not sure," Raina confessed, however reluctantly. "The old man isn't the best with parties; neither am I and Grant doesn't even try. You want to come?" she added, almost shyly.

"Sure," Lane replied, remembering some of her own disasters of birthdays – between her mother's domination, her father's submissiveness, and Rory's own unpredictability, she usually did not have fun there. "There aren't going to be too many other people, are there?"

"No," Raina admitted, "and if it wasn't for bro-bro, there wouldn't be anything at all – our old man isn't good with dates, or women, and bro-bro?" she looked at Grant who returned with lunch for her. "You really shouldn't have done it – he's going to give me yet _another_ cactus and then we'll have a dinner at a restaurant – I told him that you're invited, BTW," she turned to Lane, who blinked:

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Raina nodded. "You could use it. Being accepted by S.H.I.E.L.D. is a more mundane affair than brother dear would like to you to think, but your scores and data has been good enough, you are now a cadet. Congratulations!"

Lane gaped, and the salad that she was eating fell out of her mouth.

"What, you thought that joining the Department would require you slaying a dragon?" Raina continued just as brightly. "You don't, not necessarily. S.H.I.E.L.D. accepts ordinary submissions as well, and you did match the _initial_ requirements. So congratulations, you're in." And she smiled – prettily.

Lane swallowed her meal, took a deep breath and gave Grant her assessment of his IQ – before accepting Raina's invitation.

The end?

 _AN – this story takes places in the late 1990s/early 2000s, earlier than canon AoS series takes place. Thus, Grant and Raina are closer to age to canon Lane (GG took place in 1990s), so yeah. Anything else is my invention or OOC._


End file.
